So will Obama fulfill his vow - announced amid great fanfare in an executive order on day two of his presidency - to close the facility by January 2010? "I think so," Biden responded, according to Newsweek's Holly Bailey.

So perhaps he will. Or perhaps not. We'll see.

Biden continued: "But, look, what the president said is that this is going to be hard. It's like opening Pandora's Box. We don't know what's inside the box."

He also said that "to the best of my knowledge" the number of prisoners "who are a real danger who are not able to returned or tried" has "not been established" by the Obama administration.

So he basically just confirmed his predecessor Dick Cheney's analysis that the decision was taken "with little deliberation, and no plan".

You know, we could just try not opening the box. That's the problem with throwing away things that already work just to score PR points. What could go wrong? Only one way to find out, after all!

I hadn't heard Wanda Sykes' joke about Biden but it's a keeper, and unlike most of her routine that night, both funny and true:

"God forbid that Joe Biden falls into the hands of terrorists....We're done. Oh, they won't even have to torture him. All they have to do is go, 'How's it going, Joe?'"

Sykes nailed it. Biden is a classic Dem (along with Obama and the rest).
Let me tell you who else nailed it. Digby:
"Obama's problem is political, pure and simple. They are afraid of the shitstorm the Republicans are stirring up. There are many dangerous terrorists or would be terrorists running around free today, including one by the name of Osama bin Laden. Showing the world that we believe in the rule of law will go a lot farther to make this country safe than any other thing he does. He knows it, he's just made a political calculation that it will be too distracting or politically risky to do the right thing. Fine. But let's not kid ourselves."

Posted by: Berto at
May 23, 2009 1:38 PM

"The shitstorm the Republicans are stirring up"-actually poll after poll for all these years show the American people are against the closing of Gitmo. I understand when one lives in the lefty echo chamber, such as you do, that actual reality is hard to grasp. Its also interesting that as democrat after democrat comes out againt terrorists being sent to American soil you have to invert reality and somehow conjure a Republican conspiracy. The American people don't want these terrorists, not a difficult concept to grasp. Dem controlled Senate votes 90-6 against Obumbler-well thats the Republicans-no its not, its what your average american wants-something that lefties have nothing but contempt for.

What is far more interesting however is how much of the "illegal and immoral" tactics of the Bush regime Obumbler and the Dems have and are now supporting-renewed the Patriot Act, signed off on wiretaps, renditions are still happening, Obumbler reserves the right to use enhanced interrogation on future detainees, the same legal arguments made by the Bush Admin now being parrotted by the Obama admin, etc, etc.

You would think that in light of all of the above and how you keep being shown to be wrong, that you would just close your pie holes. Listen every time Obumbler and the Dems sign off on another Bush policy they are in effect saying-George Bush, Dick Cheney, et al were right. Maybe you should realize that.

Secondly, you still think the opposite of Republican is Democrat.
Which shows, thirdly, that you're still a true American (i.e. slow on the uptake).
It's OK, dch. Your team is still in the running. Go Tigers!

Posted by: Berto at
May 23, 2009 5:47 PM

BTW-I forgot miltary tribunals, delaying the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, drone attacks, my God it is so hard to remember all the things that Obumbler is agreeing with the Bush Admin. You know people who supported Obumbler during the primaries and the election must be feeeling really stupid right now. It must be hard to be played like a piano and then disarded after the election like a used tampon. BTW-berto just to see how honest you are---do you remember Crank and myself predicting this and telling you this between the election and inauguration???? Be honest.

Posted by: dch at
May 23, 2009 10:00 PM

Poor Crank, dch views him as a soulmate.

Cheney's excellent torture adventure made any number of the detainees not able to be tried. The President is making responsible choices trying to make the best of a bad situation.

if we didn't have Biden, we could go for, oh, Nixon, Agnew, Qualye or, if we hadn't been so lucky, Princess Sarah.

Posted by: Magrooder at
May 23, 2009 10:32 PM

The statement "Cheney's excellent torture adventure made any number of the detainees not able to be tried." has me confused. Why do I want to put them on trial? They were caught as illegal combatants and are not US citizens. I don't want to run them thru the US legal system; I want to keep them locked up for the duration.

Posted by: Lee at
May 24, 2009 9:05 AM

Bush and Ceney labelled them as enemy combatants to allow them to deprive them of rights. Oh, the ease of monarchy.

Posted by: Magrooder at
May 24, 2009 11:41 PM

dch,
Yes. and do you remember me saying Obama wasn´t a cureall just because he´s not cynical enough to name a moron like Palin his VP?
Be honest.

Lee,
Because this is the US and we believe in innocent until proven guilty. Try not to be a bedwetter for a minute.